At a fast pace, life speeds past details

Published August 10, 2012 at 11:05 am

By Aaron Lynch, Lakes Area Youth Service Bureau

This time of year, I often find myself thinking about all of the activities I want to participate in, projects I want to get done, and vacation I want to spend. It then dawns on me that it is already August and the door on a seemingly short summer is quickly coming to a close.

It feels like yesterday that the ice went off the lake and I was getting excited about another beautiful Minnesota summer. Reality is that my fast-paced lifestyle has prevented me from checking off most of my summer bucket list and kept me from enjoying the season I look forward to the most.

Life often feels this way. The hectic nature of work, family, hobbies, deadlines, and appointments are where we live on a daily basis.

Our lives are packed so tight with schedules, dates, and responsibilities that we rarely find the time to breath, let alone catch our breath. We live in a fast paced culture that leaves little time to enjoy life.

If we are moving so fast that it is hard to believe school starts again in a few weeks, then we need to slow down.

The same way my mother used to tell me to slow down when I ate, so I could actually taste my food, we also need to slow down and enjoy the subtle beauty of life.

When we move too fast, we miss the important details.

When we’re busy we take friendships for granted, we don’t appreciate our family members the way we should, and we don’t enjoy the beauty of the seasons that we are blessed with in this great state.

We may miss out on the very things that define our existence.

I propose that we take a collective breath and make the change to slow down. By slowing the pace of life, we can actually enjoy the things that make life worth living.

I may never have the ability to fully embrace this concept. Life will always be busy, even when my schedule is not. There is value in understanding that life is not defined by our responsibilities, rather by the things that give us meaning.

If we are moving so fast that we miss these defining things, then we have missed the meaning of life.

Take a moment today and enjoy one of those defining, life giving things.

Rekindle a relationship, watch the sun set, read a good book, call a distant friend, or go on a walk with a loved one.

Take the time to enjoy the subtle, yet amazing things of life.

-Contact Aaron Lynch at Lakes Area Youth Service Bureau at 651-464-3685 or [email protected]